Gravity Generators
Since the time of the first orbital research stations in the Sol system, the difficulties as well as the benefits presented by microgravity situations have been exhaustively documented. The crews of the first true human-built interstellar craft of the twenty-first century coped with acceleration and zero-g coasting mission segments through the use of rotating centrifuges, acceptable solutions for the day. Humanoid organ systems require gravitational and electromagnetic fields to insure proper cellular growth and viability, simulating the natural conditions present on most Class M worlds. Low-level field devices simulated the planetary electrical and magnetic energy, and the descendants of many twenty- to thirty-year flights arrived in a healthy state. The general planform of the Nova starship returns to a more natural existence in that people are free to move about on planar surfaces with a constant gravity holding them to the deck. Aboard the starship, this is accomplished through the use of a network of small gravity generators. The network is divided into Two regions, two within the Primary Hull. Both work to maintain the proper sense of "down," and are also actively tied to the inertial damping field system to minimize motion shock during flight. The two gravity networks each support 400 generators. Fields overlap slightly between devices, but this is barely noticeable. The gravity field itself is created by a controlled stream of gravitons, much like those produced by the tractor beam. In fact, the basic physics is the same. Power from the electro plasma system (EPS) is channeled into a hollow chamber of anicium titanide 454, a sealed cylinder measuring 50 cm in diameter by 25 cm high. Suspended in the center of the cylinder, in pressurized chrylon gas, is a superconducting stator of thoronium arkenide. The stator, once set to a rotational rate above 125,540 rpm, generates a graviton field with a short lifetime, on the order of a few picoseconds. This decay time necessitates the addition of the second layer of generators beyond 30 meters distance. The field is gentle enough to allow natural walking without a gravity gradient from head to foot, long a problem in brute-force physical centripetal systems. The superconducting stator remains suspended from the time of manufacture, and requires only an occasional synchronizing energy pulse from the EPS, normally once each sixty minutes. In the event of EPS failure, the stator will continue to provide an attraction field for up to 240 minutes, though some degradation to about 0.8g will be detected. Any perceived ship motions that might disturb the stator gyroscopically are damped by sinesoidal ribs on the inner surface of the anicium titanide cylinder, effectively absorbing motions with an amplitude of less than or equal to 6 cm/sec. All higher amplitude motions are relieved by the ship's inertial damping field. Gravity generators are located throughout the habitable volume of the spacecraft. Because of this, inertial potential can vary from one location within the ship to another, especially during severe turning maneuvers. In order to allow translation of excess inertial potential from one part of the ship to another, the gravity generators are connected together by a network of small waveguide conduits that allow field bleed for gravitational stability. Category:Engineering Category:Operations Category:Ship Systems Category:Life Support